"Hello, what can I get you this morning?" The employee at Tim Horton's asked me.

"Could I get a serving of potato wedges, a chicken wrap and a mocha ice capp?" I asked.

"Sure thing, is there anything else I can get you?" The employee asked.

"Nope, that'll be all, thank you." I smiled.

"Perfect. You can pay at the window." The employee said.

"Thank you!" I called, shifting my gear to drive and driving towards the window.

I picked up the food I'd ordered and I drove to the hospital. There was an event going on at the school today that I had to go to, but I wouldn't miss my meeting with Ava at the hospital. I saw her in the morning before school and I noticed she forgot her lunch. So I was getting her some and bringing it to her before the school event.

When I arrived at the hospital, Ava was not happy. In fact she was clearly enraged.

"Dr. Dara. Please, calm down." Rico said.

"I said to give the patient the analgesic! I'd like to know why they weren't!" Ava growled, trying to contain her anger.

She was glaring at a particular nurse who was standing in front of her, glaring right back.

"My orders were clear and correct, why was the patient not given the proper medication?!" Ava said, her entire face turning red.

"Ava... Relax." Rico told her.

Ava turned around, placed her clipboard down on the receptionist's desk harshly and then stormed off as calmly as she could.

I immediately followed her, not sure what had happened. I found her sitting on a random chair in a hallway with her head rested in one hand and the other tracing the pockets on her scrub bottoms.

"Ava?" I said gently.

"Hey." She said, looking up at me in annoyance.

"You want me to go away?" I asked her.

"No. Sit down." She said, pointing to the chair beside her.

I sat down and placed the bag of food beside me.

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking, of course." I asked her.

"The nurse didn't give my patient the pain medication that I said they needed. The patient ended up getting a major blood clot." She sighed.

"Was it because of not getting the right pain meds?" I asked.

"You can't just not give patients pain medication after a surgery. It can lead to complications. But you also have to think about the specific patient... I knew this patient was prone to getting blood clots, so I prescribed a pain medication that's also a blood thinner." Ava sighed.

"Oh, and the nurse didn't listen?" I asked.

"The nurse disagreed with me, telling me that, that specific pain medication wasn't necessary, and I insisted, but he ended up giving them whatever he wanted to give them... and they got a blood clot." She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Hey. It's not your fault. Is the patient alright?" I asked her.

"Yes, thankfully. We've switched the medication and I've prescribed a slightly stronger blood thinner just for the post-op period." She told me.

"See. It's under control. I understand your anger though. You know what you're talking about and the nurse was out of line. He should've discussed it with you, and not gone behind your back." I said to her.

"Thanks." She smiled at me. "Talking to you really helps."

"You can always rant to me about anything." I chuckled. "I brought you some lunch."

"Oh, wow! Thank you!" She said, taking the bag of food from me. "Oh my goodness! Potato wedges?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I smiled and she hugged me tightly before her watch beeped.

"Oh, duty calls. Thank you for bringing me food! I really appreciate it! I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" She asked me, rushing off.

This girl was like a hurricane. The way she made me feel so happy and then left so quickly. It was driving me insane. I wanted nothing more than for her to be my girlfriend. But I would wait as long as she needed. She was just scared after her experience with that jerk. She was protecting her precious heart.

I went straight to the school after seeing Rico for a minute and I took my spot at the paint station with the kids. It was a type of fair for the kids with games, ice cream, pizza and drinks. Sophie was making all the pizzas, the school always contacted Sophie for events. I changed into my paint clothing for this, because I didn't want to ruin anymore of my clothing.

Soon enough, the children began arriving and they started throwing around balloons with paint in them and making a huge fair poster with paint all over it. We always liked to have this station for the kids and then put up the product of their work each year after the fair.

It was usually very colourful and messy but it definitely portrayed the chaos of the fairs. After the paint, all the kids went to the water station and got themselves soaked with water. After that, they'd get washed up and changed and come back for some food and a movie in the school theatre. Then there were some games set up in the gym and they'd slowly head home.

It was an amazing fair as usual. All the kids were running around, painting and throwing paint around. There were other games down in the closed off parking lot that they could play as well.

My favourite little reader was there. Lily. She was running around having lots of fun. Then when all the kids went to the water station, she stayed back.

Lily had changed a lot. She used to be very quiet and reserved at the beginning of the year. And she still was, but she spoke to me. She liked to interact with me sometimes.

"Mr. Morelli.... can I help you?" She asked me.

"You want to help me?" I asked her.

"Yeah... can I help you bring in the paint?" She asked me.

"You need to go get hosed down." I said to her, pointing at her little nose which had blue paint on it.

"I don't wanna go there." She said, looking at all the other kids.

"You want me to come with you?" I asked her.

"Yes!" She giggled, jumping up and down. "Please! I want you to come with me!" She cheered.

I smiled and took her little hand in mine, letting her pull me towards the water war station. There were a few colleagues spraying the water everywhere. There were water balloons that the kids could throw around as well.

I gave Lily a water balloon and she smiled at it. Then she threw it at me and giggled, running away from me. I got one of my colleagues to go handle the paint and stuff and I took a hose. I sprayed a few kids, Lily being one of them and I heard her squeal and jump around. She somehow located another balloon and threw it at me.

Once everyone including me and the other teachers was drenched in water, we made our way to the changing rooms that they set up. The kids went in there and they changed into the clothes they brought. But Lily didn't want to go.

She cried when I lead her and some other kids to the changing room lines. I didn't understand what was wrong. None of the other teachers could get through to her. So I knelt down to see what the breakdown was about.

"Hey, Lily... tell me what's wrong... you're not making any sense, Sweetheart." I said to her.

"I can't change." She cried.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Because." She sobbed throwing herself at me and continuing to sob.

"Alright, Sweetheart. Don't cry." I said, tucking her hair behind her head as she clutched my soaked t-shirt. She was shivering from the cold. Most of the other kids were already changed and inside. But she was still in her wet clothes.

"Lily. Why don't you want to change?" I asked her.

"I can't." She cried.

"Why not?" I asked her.

"I can't." She repeated.

"Alright. But let me see your change of clothes." I said to her.

She started crying harder and I was able to guess what was happening.

"Do you not have a change of clothes here?" I asked her.

She nodded as she cried her heart out and I smiled. I wrapped a towel around her and took her little hand.

"Let's go find you a change of clothes, Lily." I smiled.

I went and found her some of the school shorts and sweatpants that fit her and I carried her back to the changing rooms because she was quivering like a little leaf. She went in and changed and then she emerged, still shivering. I went and changed as well and then found her waiting for me with my sweater on her. She was still shaking and one of the other teachers was failing to get her to go inside.

"Come on, Lily. It's cold out here, Sweetheart. Let's go inside before you get too cold." The woman said to her.

"No... I'm waiting for Mr. Morelli." Lily said calmly, moving away from the other teacher and grabbing my backpack with her little hands.

"Hey, Lily." I said softly.

"Hi. Are we going to watch the movie?" She asked me.

I could tell how much she wanted to. She was enjoying herself today, but she wasn't willing to do all these things by herself.

"Why don't you go sit with Riley and MacKenzie?" I asked her as we walked into the theatre.

That's when she shook her head and backed away from everyone.

"Alright... you want me to stay with you?" I asked her.

"Yes. Please! I want you to stay and watch the movie with me." She said to me.

The other teachers knew how antisocial and difficult Lily was when it came to activities in a group. So, one of the female teachers who was trying to get her to come inside walked up to me and told me she would handle everything, as long as I stayed with Lily and made sure she warmed up a little. The poor thing was still shaking from the cold.

I sat down in one of the theatre chairs and a vibrating Lily attempted to climb into my lap and failed. I pulled her up as another teacher handed me a towel to wrap her up in. I saw a hair elastic around her wrist and I took it off, I used it to tie her long, wet hair up in a bun over her head. then I wrapped her up with the towel.

It was weird interacting with Lily. I wanted to give her comfort. But there were some things I couldn't do. I was her teacher and I was a man. I couldn't really touch her out of what was necessary. I was already carrying her to my chair when she slept in my class, I was tying her hair up, wrapping her up in towels and putting her in my lap all the time. What I was doing wasn't necessarily right as her teacher.

But everyone else seemed to understand the situation and I had no idea what made Lily so attached to me and so detached with everyone else. I let her sit however she wanted in my lap and I didn't touch her. I just didn't want to do anything I wasn't supposed to.

The teachers came and gave Lily some popcorn and she took it with her trembling hands.

"Hey, Lily. Are you cold?" I asked her.

"Yes." She nodded.

I sighed and rubbed her back, hoping she would feel a little warmer. I didn't want the poor thing getting sick because of this.

"Lily. Why don't we call Mom or Dad and ask them to pick you up?" I asked her.

"No. I don't want to go home, I want to stay." She said.

"But you're so cold." I said to her.

"No. It's better here." She said.

One of the other teachers came over and asked if they should call her parents and at least ask for a warmer change of clothes. I nodded and I continued to try and warm the poor thing up. She was really shivering.

A few minutes later, one of the teachers came back telling me no one answered.

The movie ended and I walked around with the poor vibrating little girl as she tried to prolong her fun. Then the fair ended, and all the kids were picked up by their parents. Every last child was picked up, and little four year old Lily was still propped up on my lap, shivering and tracing the colourful lines on my shirt.

"Mr. Morelli, how did the colours get on your shirt?" She asked me.

"I tie-dyed it. I tied it up and then poured some colourful stuff on it and then it turned like this." I said to her, beginning to get worried about her.

"Can I make a shirt like that?" She asked me.

"Maybe one day." I smiled, rubbing her back and she continued to shiver and try to steal my warmth by snuggling into my shirt.

"Mr. Morelli... I don't want to go home." She said to me.

"When you get home, you can change your clothes, dry your hair, and be all warm again. Then you'll be back on Monday." I said to her.

"I want to stay with you." She said softly, her little fingers wrapping around the fabric of my shirt.

"I'll see you on Monday, Sweetheart. But you have to go home." I told her.

"When?" I asked her.

"When your Mom or Dad come to pick you up." I said to her.

"They're busy." She told me.

"Doing what?" I asked her.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

Eventually, one of the teachers found her address and sent her home on one of the buses with some other kids. I was worried though. Her parents didn't respond to any calls and she seemed so sure that they were busy but said she didn't know what they were busy with. I just felt like maybe Lily didn't have the best home life. If I had a little girl like that, I'd never in a million years let her stay at her school for even a few minutes waiting for me.

I just felt bad for her. She never seemed enthusiastic about going home. She never talked about home or her parents. She just sort of stayed in her little private bubble and very occasionally let loose around me. I had yet to see her interact with another kid properly or even another teacher.

I just felt bad for the kid for some reason. I didn't know if there was a need to feel bad or worry about her, but I did.